Whether it's a bag of apples, a new shirt or pet insurance, supermarkets are spreading their wings to a range of products and services. Sainsburys is one of the UK's largest supermarket chains and they've built their brand based on quality products and high levels of customer service. Now they've flapped their wings again, and this time they're offering digital movie rentals online.

So what are the benefits of renting movies through Sainsburys Entertainment? Well if you already shop at Sainsburys and collect Nectar points then you can add to that collection by renting their movies. Each rental adds to your Nectar point score, earning you discounts, products and services around the country once you've collected enough of them. The price of rentals is pretty much industry standard, with new releases costing around £3.49, with a bitrate size of 1200kbps. The system allows you to keep your purchase on hold for 30 days, and once you download it you have 48 hours to watch. You can rewatch your downloads as many times as you like in this 48 hour window, so if you want to check out whether or not a film is suitable for your kids, and then show it to them, that's no problem.

The site provides a decent amount of information on each film, with a synopsis of the plot and data on the actors and running times, among other things. It could go into more detail, providing links to the studios or IMDB ratings, but it's not necessary generally. Some kind of ratings system would however help other customers to decide whether or not they might enjoy a film. You can find movies by searching for them, based on their genre or check out the best sellers. This could be improved further by providing themed collections, but the recommendations (based on what you're already viewing) are certainly helpful.

As with a number of its peers in this category, Sainsbury Entertainment suffers from being rather generic. It's clear that they're not dedicated movie addicts as there is no community feel and they do not really go to any lengths to invest their time and passion into the site. This feels like any other shop front rather than something created with movie-lovers in mind. That said, it is a reliable service which offers online movie rentals for a fair price. Its 48 hour watching window is also more generous than some services on offer elsewhere.

Click on the button below to check out sainsburysentertainment.co.uk for yourself...